


with a poof and glow

by sylphofkarkat



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Implied Relationships, Multi, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 21:39:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7591387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylphofkarkat/pseuds/sylphofkarkat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The daily life of one Rin Hoshizora, and how it changes (and how it doesn't) with the addition of the banter of an angel and a devil.</p><p>[SASO 2016: team makirinpana's entry to main round 1 - duality]</p>
            </blockquote>





	with a poof and glow

**Author's Note:**

> Printemps are angels, Bibi are devils, and lily white are humans. Some brief references to season 2 episode 5.
> 
> Art by my wonderful teammate Fabi! Find her on [Tumblr](http://kagehinya.tumblr.com) or [Twitter](http://twitter.com/fabisaysmeow).

_When you hear of angels and devils, what do you think of? Probably the stereotypical images: white wings, halos, little horns and tails, the whole good/bad split. You probably also think “fake, fake, only heard of in religion”._

_Nozomi-chan, you’re probably more likely to believe me than Umi-chan, but they’re actually real! And Umi-chan, in case you’re asking me to prove it, I can! Just tell me when!_

_Anyway, you probably wanna know how I know they’re real; and I don’t blame you, if it happened to you I’d be dying to know too! Well, it’s kind of a long story…_

-

It all started with a decree.

“Hanayo-chan, come over here! The big boss has an assignment for you!”

“Ehh, I’m coming, Honoka-chan!!”

Hanayo flapped her wings as fast as she could, as if that would help her run any faster. Her heart beat in her chest a mile a minute; it would be a total understatement to say that she was nervous.

And why shouldn’t she be? It’s her first assignment as a guardian angel, after all.

She’s panting by the time she reaches the other angel. “Wh-hah, hah, what is - it - hah - Honoka-chan?”

Honoka beams. “Boss told me to pass on your assignment to you! Cuz she’s really busy with all the others up here and how she has to be in charge of everything cuz, well, she’s the boss!”

She laughs at her own wording, a loud and jingling sound. Hanayo cracks a smile in return, still breathing exhaustedly.

Honoka has been a sort of guide to her ever since her birth, or more accurately, her spawning, up in heaven. She’d quickly become close to the new angel and showed her the basics. How to fly, how to change size, how to shapeshift, and the works. She told Hanayo how things were run: angels carry out many duties to assist humankind, whether guiding souls to rest, bringing messages of hope, protecting the kind or watching over those who needed guidance. Honoka's best friend, Kotori, was quick to step in as well, knowing all about Honoka's excitable and slightly eccentric behavior, and she gave Hanayo much more information than she could handle at one time. But Kotori was able to explain it all in a way that didn't make her head spin, and she actually came out of sessions with her understanding everything she was told. Later, Hanayo would find out that that was because Kotori was protégé to the leader of the angels, and had been learning and kept to high standards all her life.

Ever since then, the three of them were close as could be. Hanayo, if she knew the terminology then, would have thought of them as her sisters.

Honoka claps her hands together. “So! You're probably dying to know what you're gonna be doing! Are you ready for it??”

“W-well, as ready as I can be,” Hanayo laughs nervously. “I’m afraid I may not be good enough or I'll do things incredibly wrong.”

“Do. Not. Worry, Hanayo-chan!!” Honoka punctuates her words by clapping her hands onto Hanayo’s shoulders. Hanayo jumps in surprise. The orange haired angel had always kept her a little on edge with her sudden outbursts like this, but they make her likable. “I talked to Kotori-chan about it and she made sure the boss didn't give you too much work! And it's a low stress assignment, she told me! But you’re definitely, definitely ready for this, you've been working so hard!”

The praise makes Hanayo blush. No matter how much she hears it, she’s still not used to being complimented.

“Ah, you really think so?”

“I know so!” cries Honoka, smiling all the while. “Kotori-chan would tell you the same thing!”

She then spins around, still holding onto Hanayo. Hanayo wails a little at the sudden movement, but makes no attempt to wrench herself free from the other angel’s grip.

“A-ny-way! Your assignment! You’re gonna be guardian to a girl on Earth!”

-

It continued with eavesdropping.

“Maki, come over. I’ve got something interesting to tell you.”

“Fine, fine.”

Maki’s tail twitched at the tip as she ambled over to where her “leader” lounged. Devils, in contrast to angels, were not ruled by a single being, instead operating in small gangs and groups. They didn’t often bother to elect leaders within these groups, but there was always one of them who the others acknowledged to make general decisions for them.

In her group, Eli was that person. At the beginning, Nico had protested loudly to not being in charge, citing that “of course the cutest and craftiest devil should be at the top!”, but then Eli levelled her with a dry gaze and silently challenged her to try to take over. The pigtailed devil snapped her mouth shut and said nothing, and it’s been like that since.

Maki twirled her hair around her finger. “What is it, Eli?”

The blonde devil sat up, her gaze cool and distant. “I heard intel that an angel in Honoka’s group is being given an assignment. Her first assignment, even.”

Maki sighed in her head. Eli was always trying to mess with angels, Honoka in particular. It wasn’t as if the two groups were on bad terms; in fact, they had reached a truce in the past. But Eli was stubborn and very competitive with Honoka. Nico had kept gossiping with her that it was because the two of them were in a relationship. Maki’s not quite sure what she means, but she can definitely see _something_ between them.

“This angel is going to Earth, to be a guardian for a human,” Eli continued. “And then that’ll be another follower for them, and another win for Honoka. And can we have that?”

_We could, if we didn’t keep deciding to butt in,_ thought Maki. Don’t get her wrong; she didn’t particularly like angels either, but she’s getting pretty worn out of hearing all about Honoka’s pursuits and Eli trying to one-up her. But she’s not going to say anything about it, she does not want to see Eli mad. So she just shrugs.

The blonde huffs a little breath. She blinks hard, and suddenly her eyes are focused and apologetic. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so weird. I’m just kind of stressed right now. Honoka’s been going left and right and all around doing things like this. Can I ask a favor? Can you go and keep watch over this angel? I think you can do it, since she’s new. It’ll be good for you to learn. I’d go myself, but I think I need to rest, and I’d send Nico but who knows where she is.”

There’s the Eli that Maki’s used to seeing. For a devil, she’s very kind and hard-working, and she often exhausts herself trying to keep up with Honoka even though she doesn’t have to. That’s why Maki respects her. That’s why Maki follows her lead.

And that’s why Maki takes this job.

-

“Rin-chan! Umi-chan and I are going shopping, you wanna come?”

“No thanks!! I got a lot to do today, nya!”

“Well, mail me if you want anything, then!”

“Okay!”

The door clicks closed in the small apartment. Rin Hoshizora sits on the floor of her room, various articles of clothing spread out in front of her. Many of those were skirts and dresses, or otherwise very frilly and colorful.

Since her days in high school, Rin has been trying to embrace her girly side more and wear prettier clothes outside. But her self-consciousness still gets the better of her, the words of her childhood bullies ringing through her head, and she has to change into her usual jock-like look. Umi and Nozomi try to help, reassuring her that nobody will make fun of her for dressing up, that she looks really pretty and that's the only reason she will make heads turn. It's nice of them, and she loves them for it, but she hasn't found the courage to follow through.

Rin picks up her favorite dress - it's much plainer than the rest of the clothes on her floor, but it's in her favorite colors, orange and yellow, and it has a billowy skirt that she loves to spin around in and watch swish with her. She puts it on and stands in front of her mirror. She twirls a little, just enough for the skirt to sway.

She cracks a smile at her reflection. At least in the comfort of her room, she can be confident enough to feel pretty.

Suddenly, a large puff of dark red smoke fills the room. Rin’s eyes widen and she whirls around. She coughs when her rapid breaths cause some of it to go down her throat.

_Wh-what in the world?! Fire? In the middle of my room?! Awawah, what am I gonna tell Umi-chan and Nozomi-chan??_

The smoke eventually settles, and in its place is a young girl - being? or not? - with deep red hair and horns. _Horns_. A spiked tail - a _tail_ \- waves itself behind her - them? it? - and small, bat-like wings protrude from her back.

Rin’s stomach churns.

_Waaah, and now there’s a person here? Where’d she come from?? Am I getting robbed? Will I be killed???_

“Hm,” the creature says, high and clear voice cutting Rin out of her thoughts. Yep, most probably a girl, she could not think of any boy or other person, for that matter, with this musical a voice. “This place is a little roomier than I thought.”

“Huh - huuuh?? Wha-what the? Who-? What-?” stammers Rin, scrambling backwards.

The girl drifts her gaze over to Rin on the floor. Her purple eyes are striking, as if they could see right through Rin with even just one look.

Rin gulps. Whoa, scary pretty.

“Oh. You’re the human she was assigned to watch over?” the girl asks in a bored-sounding tone. “You don’t look like the trouble-making kind.” She twirls her hair around a finger. “Well, maybe this job will be easier than I thought.”

_Weh? What does she mean, job?_ Rin cries in her head.

“Huh? You don’t know yet?” the girl suddenly says. The human girl in question jumps.

“W-w-wait!! How’d you know what I was thinking? Are you magic or something?”

Rin hears a huff of laughter and saw eyes rolling. “You said it out loud.”

_Ah_. Rin claps her hands over her mouth. Did she always do this and just didn't know it? She's going to have to ask Umi or Nozomi.

She hears more laughter, this time sounding more like a giggle. “You're kind of cute. Now I really can't imagine how someone like you would need a guardian angel.”

“Eh-!” Rin could feel her face burn. A pretty girl called her cute! Of course she'd be embarrassed by that! And while she would normally be totally over the moon with just that comment, the girl's other words stuck clearly in her mind and kept her from swooning (at least too hard).

“Wait-a-min-ute!!” she cries, suddenly standing up with the force of her outburst. “What do you mean by 'guardian angel’? That's the second time you’ve mentioned something like that and I’m still confused!!”

So there the two were, staring at each other, Rin with a determined glint in her eyes and a pink glow on her cheeks, and the mysterious girl looking back at her.

The girl shifts her stance. She looks down at her feet, floating above the floor (which Rin hadn’t even noticed until now; just what _is_ this girl??). Her tail swiped to the right. And then she looks back at the human, opens her mouth -

When a bright flash of light overtakes the room, just as suddenly as the smoke had earlier. Rin ducks for cover, squinting her eyes tightly shut and fearing the worst yet again.

The girl just stands there, staring straight at the light. Rin panics. She may not have known this girl for very long but she doesn’t want her roasted!

“G-get down!”

With that, she grabs the mystery girl by the waist and pulls her down to the floor. She drags the both of them behind her full-length mirror, hoping that it would be enough of a shield in case of trouble.

The light begins to fade. Rin slowly opens her eyes. Well, nothing appears to be broken, destroyed, or fried. She lets out a huff of breath in relief.

And then she realizes what she did.

The girl is sitting next to her, a dazed and confused look on her face. Rin leaps away, never more thankful for her quick reflexes.

“Gah - I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! I mean - I did - but - I didn’t want you to die, so I acted on reflex!!”

The red-haired girl gives a strong blink, and the look on her face clears. “Nn - no, it’s fine.”

“Um - um, excuse me?”

With a surprised yell, Rin jumps and turns around again. Another person was standing in front of her, wringing her hands together. This one had greenish brown hair in a bob cut not unlike her own, white feathered wings flapping slightly behind her. If she squinted, Rin could even see a dim light hovering above this new girl’s head.

Very weird.

“What’s with all these girls mysteriously appearing in my room??”

The white-winged girl jolts, a small whimper coming from her mouth. “Eh - I’m sorry for the sudden entrance! I really don’t know how to control travel well! Oh, I’m messing up already, Honoka-chan, Kotori-chan, help me -”

“Wait wait! It’s okay!” Rin stammers, taken aback at the sudden change in attitude. “I’m sorry too, I just really don’t know what’s happening!”

The new girl blinks, fluttering her wings wildly. A nervous tic, maybe? “Um, you are Rin Hoshizora, right?”

“H-huh? Er, yes?”

The nervous look on the girl’s face brightens. “Oh, thank goodness, I made it to the right place after all! Um, well, this is pretty hard to explain, but I’m your new guardian angel! My name is Hanayo, it’s a pleasure to meet you!”

The newly dubbed Hanayo bows low.

Rin is at a loss for words.

“Wh-wawawa-”

“Oh my, it took you a while to get here, angel,” mystery girl number 1 drawls, leaning back against the mirror. Hanayo dares to peek around Rin’s flustered and stiff form and visibly blanches. The girl gives a playful giggle. “Well, this job should be a breeze, if heaven’s sending rookies like you.”

“D-d-devil?! A devil’s after me already?!” The angel ducks into the opposite corner of the room, nervously preening her feathers. “Oh, oh no, I knew something terrible would happen, I knew I wasn’t ready, oh no oh no oh no -”

“Well, well. She’s obviously new.” Mystery Girl shakes her head. “I didn’t think that the stigma in heaven was _that_ bad about us. And it’s Maki, not just devil. Just to get that out there.”

Eh. Eh? Rin looks at the two new beings in her room - from Hanayo panicking in the corner, to Mystery Girl - _Maki_ \- twirling her hair around her finger again, back and forth and back again.

_Umi-chan, Nozomi-chan, I’ve got a lot on me right now. What would you do in this situation??_


End file.
